38 years for 'thrill killing'

Luigi P. Adamo was sentenced Friday to 38 years in prison for bludgeoning another man to death nearly eight years ago after luring him into a DuPage County forest preserve in a crime a judge called a "thrill killing."

"It's almost inconceivable how one human being can do this to another," DuPage Acting Chief Judge George Bakalis said. "He lost sight of the fact (the victim) was a human being ... and left him like a piece of garbage in the woods."

Adamo, 27, formerly of Wayne, must serve the entire prison term before being eligible for parole at 65. He remained stoic before sheriff's deputies whisked him back to his jail cell. The crowded courtroom was filled to capacity with dozens of his solemn family and friends.

The slain man's sister, Claudia Hornback, said justice was served. She attended nearly every monthly court date for the murder of her brother, John E. Conrad, 31, of Schaumburg, in the years the case languished.

"I couldn't help John in life," she said of her brother, a severe alcoholic. "This is the only way I could help him."

A jury convicted Adamo of murder Dec. 20 after about seven hours of deliberations during two days. It was his second trial. The first one ended May 30, 2007, when Bakalis declared a hung jury after 27 hours of fruitless deliberations.

Adamo was 19 in late October 2000 when he used a tire iron to kill Conrad and then left him for dead after stealing $8 from his wallet. Adamo has an affluent, supportive family and did not have a criminal past.

Bakalis compared the slaying to an infamous 1924 murder in which two wealthy University of Chicago students killed 14-year-old Bobby Franks just because they wanted to pull off the perfect crime. In this case, Adamo's friends said he wanted to "mess with" Conrad after the unkempt man approached them for a ride outside a Carol Stream restaurant.

A couple later walking through Pratt's Wayne Woods, off Munger Road near Bartlett, discovered Conrad's remains. At the time, news reports called him a homeless man. But his mother, June Conrad, said her son always had a home with his family in Schaumburg as long as he was sober. She described how she and her husband, Jack, anguished in the three years before an arrest and every day afterward.

"Days turned into weeks, weeks turned into months and months turned into years," she said through tears. "The search for the truth became our obsession. Our golden years have been robbed from us."

DuPage sheriff's detectives Joseph DelGiudice and Tim Garlisch, also in court Friday, worked the case for three years until they caught a break when a co-defendant's former flame persuaded him to come forward. Jason S. Reardon, 24, was charged with murder, too. But, in a plea deal, he is serving a 19-year prison term for armed robbery. Reardon said Adamo urged him to participate in the killing as a "mob initiation," but he refused and instead stared in disbelief without aiding Conrad.

Adamo faced 20 to 60 years in prison. The defense team Richard Beuke, Jack Donahue and Michelle Moore sought a minimum prison term because of his young age at the time, lack of criminal history and the co-defendant's sentence.

"Don't destroy this young man's future," Donahue urged. "Give him a hope."

Cheryl Adamo testified her son is a hard worker and always supportive of his younger brother and sister, who is physically disabled. The 10-year-old girl told the judge how Adamo always treated her like gold, including dressing up like her beloved Spider-Man one Halloween while taking her to trick-or-treat. She said her brother paid $1,600 to dance with her at a recent Easter Seals fundraising event so that she wouldn't be nervous dancing with a stranger.

"He did that just so that I could feel safe and secure," the girl said, drawing tears from her brother, seated feet away.

But the prosecution team David Bayer, Paul Marchese and Thomas O'Connor argued Adamo is an "arrogant, egotistical and self-centered" punk without remorse. For example, in a recent recorded jail phone call, Adamo is heard making fun of the victim's shabby sweater. They sought a 55-year prison term.

"There was no reason to kill this individual other than just for the thrill of killing a homeless person," Marchese said. "He has no remorse whatsoever. Cruelty for fun. This was fun for him, from the beginning to end."

Sentence: Killer faced up to 60 years